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4NITueD STaTnsN PATENT Trina.

HENRY B. PLUMB, or TERRYVILLncoNNncTIcUT, Assicnon To THE EAGLE LooxcoMPANY, on. SAME PLAGE.

LOCK-CASE sPncrrrcATIoN forming perf ef Lettere Patent No. 331,083, dared November ze, laas.

Application filed June 18, 1885. Serial No. 169,128.

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, HENRY B. PLUME, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Terryville, county of Litcheld, State of ConnectiA out, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locks for Drawers and Similar Uses, of which the following is aspecifica tion.

My said invention relates to that class of furniture-locks which are adapted for insertion into an undercut mortise and for holding themselves in place without the use of screws or nails. In locks of this class now in use there are certain difficulties, viz: In locks of this class that have dovetail caps rigid on the rear face of the lock-plate it is found that itis not practicable to cut all the mortises of the same size. Moreover, the wood into which the locks are inserted shrinks more sometimes than others after the mortises are cut, so that in practice it is found that some of the locks drop so loosely into the mortise that they do not secure themselves therein, while others t so tightly that the attempt to force them into the mortise separates the cap from the faceplate.

In locks having integral oblique holdingwings bent over from the edges of the faceplates, such as are already patented, the abovenamed objections are overcome; but it is found that such locks do not present a satisfactory appearance when inserted in the mortise, as the router-bit which makes the undercut mortise throws up a feather-edge on the wood on the sides of the mortise, and this featheredge of the wood comes against that portion of the plate where it is bent over to form the wings. A further objection to the use of locks having wings formed by bending over the edges of its plates is the fact that these wings must be bent at right angles with the selvage of the lock, and it is therefore necessary to use an expensive quality of metal of a sufficiently homogeneous character that it may be bent both with the grain and across the grain of the metal.

The object of this invention is to overcome these defects, to provide alock that will adapt itself to such variations in the mortises as may occur, which will present a satisfactory appearance when inserted into the mortise, and

is a section on the line x m of Fig. l.

(No model.)

of iron thatl is rolled into bands or sheets.

The invention will be first described in connection with the accompanying drawings, and then particularly referred to in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure lisa rear face view. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. is a plan View of the lock-in place, and Fig. 4 Fig. 5 is a perspective view of my improved lockcasing.

The lock-case is composed ofthe front plate, A, which is bent at right angles across the grain of the metal to form the selvage B, the ends of the selvage being dovetail in shape. The holding-wings C G are made separate and independent of the lock-plate A, and are preferably bent but once and across the grain of the metal to form the flanges D D, which are riveted flat upon the rear of the front plate, A, while the holding portions of the wings stand at oblique angles with the front plate. It will be perceived that as the holding-wings C C stand at oblique angles with plate A the outer edges of the wings C C are free, and the anges D D are so placed upon the lockplate that the outer edges of the wings C C are about one-eighth of an inch farther apart at the top, where they come in contact with the selvage B, than they are at their lower extremities-that is to say, the flanges converge at their lower ends. This renders it easy to insert the lower'end of the lock into the mortise should the width thereof be less than the average, and as the distance between the outer edges of the wings increases near the selvage the wings will hold the lock securely, although the width of the mortise may -be increased by the shrinking of the wood, while if the mortise is narrow the free edges of thewings above their lower ends are bent inward. Thelower ends of the wings C G are extended as far downward as the points at which the edges of the plate A are rounded, to adapt it for insertion into a mortise made with a revolving cutter, while the tops of the wings are extended until they come in contact with the selvage B. The holding-wings therefore form a support for the selvage and prevent its being bent down or broken off when the look is inserted into the mortise.

that may be constructed of the cheapest quality Fig. 3 l

The flanges D D are placed upon the rear of the front plate, A, a short distancey from its edges, so that the edges of the plate A project laterally beyond the angles formed by bending the wings C O at oblique angles with the plate A, and these projecting edges of the plate being countersunk into the wood, the featheredges on the sides of the undercut mortise are concealed, and a nish is secured far superior to any ever attained with the use of locks having integral holding-wings bent over from the extreme edges of the plate; or, in other words, the sharp edges of the plate A will set in the recess that is formed around the undercut mortise and rest flush against the side wall of said recess. rhis is a very im-- portant feature of my improvement.

I am aware of patents to Orum, kNo. 262,977, Clarkson, No. 281,615, and Gory, No. 298,460,- and do not claim the constructions therein shown; nor do I claim, broadly, a lock-case withk its front plate provided withv side wings.

Having no w fully acknowledged the prior state of the art and described my improvements, what l claim as new, and desire to secure b .y Letters Patent, is-

1. A lock-case consisting of a face-plate plane of the flanges andA face-plate, substan- 4o tially as set forth.

3. A lock-case consisting of the face-plate formed with the top selvage at right angles thereto, and separate and independent holdingwings secured to the said faceplate a short distance from the edges thereof, the said wings daring-'outwardly from the face-plate and con-v verging at their lower ends, substantially as set forth.

HENRY B. PLUME,

Witnesses:

MIQHEAL H. MAHER, H. W. PYRKE.

I Y i 

